


Remember

by polkadotPotter



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: BAMF Peter Parker, Bucky Barnes Needs a Hug, Everyone is a member, F/M, Harley Keener is the Human Form of a Shitpost, Hydra Peter Parker, M/M, Natasha Romanov Is a Good Bro, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Not Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Compliant, Not Captain America: Civil War (Movie) Compliant, Peter Parker Acts Like a Spider, Peter Parker Can Wield Mjolnir, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Precious Peter Parker, Protect Peter Parker Squad, Protective Bucky Barnes, Protective Natasha Romanov, Protective Tony Stark, Tony Stark Does What He Wants, Tony Stark Has A Heart, very briefly
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-26
Updated: 2019-05-26
Packaged: 2020-03-17 14:05:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,876
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18966745
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/polkadotPotter/pseuds/polkadotPotter
Summary: Peter has been awake for a while. He can remember, bits and pieces, from his life before Hydra- blurry faces that must be his parents, a love for science, a pull in his chest whenever someone mentions Queens. He remembers his name. He knows that he is Peter and not "Boy".And he has been very careful to not let anybody at Hydra know that he remembers. Because he also remembers watching them strap the Winter Soldier to a table, read aloud his words, wipe his mind clean until he couldn't even piss without orders. And he couldn't let that happen to himself.Now, though, Peter is ready. He has a plan. And he's going to get out.





	Remember

Matt Murdock was not having a particularly good day.

It was one of those days that wasn't by any means eventful, but all of the smallest inconveniences added up to make a very long, very irritating day. It was a day of rude clients and filling out paperwork wrong, of spilled coffee and being held up at the grocery store. And to top it all off, Foggy had recommended a book to him, only for Matt to discover that it was not available in audio form. 

Matt had decided to leave his suitcase at work and take a detour on his way home as Daredevil, lurking in all the places known for trouble. There wasn't much of it today, just a fistfight (not even an exciting one- it was two teenage boys, over what seemed to be a shared crush) and an attempted mugging, which found the perpetrator on the ground before he could even find someone to aim his gun at. All in all an uneventful day.

And then, Matt went home.

He left on his suit, which might have been his first mistake. There were no compartments for a change of clothes in his suit, and he'd assumed that he could slip into his apartment unnoticed. And if he didn't, Matt was surprisingly talented at playing dumb. 

What Matt wasn't expecting, however, was to come home and hear someone already in his apartment.

Matt paused outside of the door, hand hovering over the handle. He could hear a heartbeat coming from inside- only a heartbeat, nothing else. It was beating fast, sounded healthy, maybe young. 

There weren't many options in this situation. Matt could leave, seek out his friends and ask to stay at one of their houses, but he had no change of clothes and Karen still didn't know about his extracurricular activities, while Foggy had decided that he was mad at Matt again, which was somewhat of an every-other-week occurrence. Matt could wait the person out, but he was out in the hallway and who knew how long it would take them to leave. Or, he could go in, alert and ready to fight.

Matt opened the door slowly, quietly, and crept into his own apartment. His ears, focused on the heartbeat, noticed it pick up as soon as the knob turned. They knew he was here.

"I know you're here," Matt announced, closing the door. The heartbeat was coming from his living room, only- it was coming, absurdly, from above his head. 

The heartbeat moved to the far corner, still above him, except there was no other noise from the person. They were insanely quiet, to the point where Matt wondered if this was some kind of trick. He paused, listening intently, just for a moment, until his ears picked up on the tail end of a shaky breath- almost soft enough for Matt to miss it, but there nonetheless. 

"You're quiet," Matt said, looking to the corner. "Why are you in m-" Matt paused. _Don't call it your apartment, dumbass, you're in your suit._ "What are you doing here?"

The silence stretched on, and if the heartbeat wasn't still there Matt would have assumed the intruder had left. This game of avoidance was getting old fast, and Matt opened his mouth to ask again when suddenly, the thing spoke.

"Why are _you_ here?" and holy shit, that voice belonged to a _child_. It was a boy, Matt knew, and he had to be a teenager, maybe on the younger side, with a voice like that. His voice was accusing, but curious, and also scared. 

"I was expected," Matt told the boy, thinking that maybe some truth would move the situation along. "I know for a fact that you weren't. So what are you doing here?"

There was no answer for a short while, and Matt wondered if the kid took this long to answer every question asked of him. "I... am looking for the man who lives here."

Matt considered the boy for a moment. He seemed like he could be a threat despite his obviously young age, but he also seemed... lost. Terrifyingly quiet and worryingly young and probably dangerous, but lost. 

That hint of loss in the boy's voice is what made Matt respond with, "I know him. I can get the message across. Why do you need him?"

"I-" the boy took an audible breath, harsh and nervous. "Matt Murdock." Matt tensed- despite the fact that the kid had been looking for him, hearing his name from him was unnerving all the same. "He's a lawyer and... I- I heard rumors that he knows the Avengers."

Matt blinked. This kid wanted the Avengers? "If you found out where Matt lives, I'm sure you can figure out where the Avengers are and contact them yourself."

The kid's heart rate picked up again. "No!" he said, all quiet and panicked. "I can't go by myself. I need- I need..." he trailed off, frustrated, like he couldn't figure out what he was supposed to be saying. He began to mutter, barely audible, talking to himself, and was that Russian? Who the hell was this kid? "Look, sir, I would really appreciate it if I could just talk to Matt Murdock. I don't trust you."

It was blunt, but Matt understood. This kid, whoever he was, clearly needed help, if his skittishness was anything to go by. "Did you run away from somewhere?" Matt asked. "Is that why you need help?" The kid didn't answer, and after waiting longer than necessary for an answer, Matt decided that he wasn't getting a response. The silence answered his question, though, so Matt continued. "Who did you run away from?"

Suddenly, without warning, the heartbeat moved rapidly, from the corner of the ceiling to about halfway down the wall, before it was rushing at him as the boy leaped from the wall. Matt barely had time to react before he was pushed over, the boy perching himself on top of his chest. He was way too light for his size. Two quiet _thwips_ were heard, and Matt felt his wrists pinned down by something sticky. So, definitely not a normal kid. 

"Where is Matt Murdock?" the kid asked. He probably meant to sound menacing, but all that was coming out was desperation. Matt stayed silent. 

He wasn't sure what made him do it. Maybe it was the desperate way this kid seemed to talk, move, exist. Maybe it was the fear in his voice. But Matt didn't think that he was here to hurt anyone. He also thought that he wasn't going to expose Matt, if he was looking for help. "Take off my mask," he said suddenly, tilting his chin up towards the boy. 

The body on top of his chest froze, and Matt could feel the kid staring at him. Everything was still for a moment, everything silent, and then there was a tentative hand on the bottom of his mask, trembling fingers pulling it up an away from his face. Matt held his breath as he felt the air hit his eyes, his nose, his forehead. He waited as the kid stared at him, taking it in.

"You're him." Matt nodded. He wasn't sure what to say. The kid shifted on top of him. "What's wrong with your eyes?"

Matt blanched, a frown taking over his features. He felt the kid tense at his expression, lean away from him. "My eyes?" he asked. Did this kid not know what blindness was?

"They're... distant. Not looking at anything. Can't you see?"

Matt felt something break in his chest, for this kid who was so clueless and scared and not normal. "No," he said, blunt and quick.

The kid paused, probably to blink at him. "Oh," was all he said. "I didn't know people could be like that."

Matt felt it again, that surge of pity inside himself. "Just where were they keeping you, kid?"

The kid drew in a breath, loud this time. Then he held it, before gingerly climbing off of Matt's chest, only releasing the air from his lungs once he was crouched near his shoulder. It was silent for a few more moments before finally, the boy said, "Hydra," in the barest of whispers, voice meek and ashamed. 

"Hydra?" Matt gawked, eyes widening. "You're a kid!"

The kid just made a small noise in the back of his throat. "I am," he said, and Matt was just glad it wasn't phrased like a question.

"Is that why you need my help then?" he asked. "Because of Hydra?"

"Yes," said the kid. "They- they did something to me, made me their puppet and I- it wore off and I pretended it didn't because otherwise they would make me forget and I- and I don't want to forget, I don't want to be part of Hydra and so I pretended that I was and-"

"Kid, take a breath," Matt told him. The boy paused, sucking in a huge breath, and then exhaling.

"Sorry," he mumbled, and Matt shook his head. 

"Don't apologize, just don't forget to breathe, alright?" Matt said. "Explain what happened, but breathe."

"Okay," said the boy. He took a breath. "I had a life, before Hydra took me. Except they have this thing, this... ritual, that messes with your mind. And they took me, when I was really little and they used it on me. And I was under their control, for so so long except now, it's- it's worn off, mostly. I don't have to obey them anymore, they don't have any mental control over me and yet I-" the kid paused, taking another shaky breath, "I still can't remember anything from before. Just little things, like my name, or that I had parents and I think I loved them. But." And then he stopped.

Matt urged him on. "But, what?"

The kid shuffled in his position next to Matt's shoulder, clearly nervous. "I knew that if they figured out that I wasn't under their control anymore, they would make me forget again, and I didn't- I couldn't let them do that. So I went along with what they wanted, and I looked. For people who could help me. And I got- I found you. And then yesterday, I think it was yesterday, they gave me a new mission and I left and instead of finding my target I came here. Because you can help. I think."

The kid took another breath, but didn't say anything else, so Matt figured he was done. "Okay," he said, slowly, because this kid was _scared_ , "Alright. Yeah. That sounds- woah, kid."

Matt wasn't sure how to respond to all of that. "Are you going to help me?" the kid asked, and gosh, he sounded so young. "Can you?"

Matt sighed. "Yeah, kid. I can help you."

"Good," said the kid, and Matt wondered briefly if he'd ever been taught about 'please' and 'thank you'. 

"Do you think you can let me go, though?" Matt asked. 

"Oh," the kid blurted, and Matt heard him fumble with something. A cap popped, and something was poured on each of his wrists. Matt heard a fizzing noise, like whatever was sticking his wrists to the ground was dissolving, and suddenly he could move again. He brought his arms back to himself slowly, flexing his wrists and sitting up. 

"So, kid. You said you remembered your name?" Matt inquired curiously. "What is it?"

"Peter," the kid answered. "I don't- I think I had a last name, but..." he trailed off sadly.

"You don't remember," Matt finished for him. 

"No," Peter sullenly confirmed. 

Matt nodded, standing up. Though he couldn't hear him moving, he knew that Peter had followed suit by the position of his heartbeat next to him. Matt walked across the room, reaching for his desk.

"What are you doing?" Peter asked nervously, sticking close to his side.

"Looking for my phone," he said. His fingers closed around the device, it's heavy weight familiar in his hands. "The Avengers are about to get a call from their favorite lawyer."

* * * * *

"Boss, you have an incoming call from Matthew Murdock."

Tony groaned, rolling over in his bed. "The lawyer?" he asked, half awake. "Why is he calling me at..."

"1:23am, sir."

"Geez. And you couldn't have sent him to voicemail? Didn't I design you to do that?"

FRIDAY seemed slightly peeved when she answered, "You did, sir. However, this is the eleventh time in the past ten minutes that he has called, so I assume it must be urgent."

Tony groaned, forcing himself to sit up. It was a rare night that he actually got to sleep early, even rarer for it to be in his own bed, so of course his sleep would be interrupted by some devil from Hell's Kitchen. Scrabbling on the nightstand for his phone, he brought it to his ear and clicked 'accept call'. "Devil of Hell's Kitchen, what do you want at 1:23 in the morning? Don't tell me you need my help on one of your absurd little missions."

There was a moment of brief silence, before Matt spoke. "Do you always answer your phone like that?"

"Only for you, honey-bear," Tony grimaced. "So what do you want?"

Matt sighed, loudly, through the phone. "I came home to a kid sitting on my ceiling. Says he's escaped from Hydra brainwashing. Asked if I could contact you."

 _This_ got Tony alert, eyes widening in the darkness of his room. "FRIDAY, turn on the lights," he said, and suddenly the room was bright. "Why you?"

"I don't know. I assume it's because I have a known address and have means of contacting you."

"Well, if he wanted to see me so bad, couldn't he just come to the tower?" Tony asked, frowning. "Why the middle man?"

"I don't know that either," Matt admitted, with yet another sigh. "He kinda clammed up, but I think he's being watched." He paused, and Tony heard a soft 'yeah' that he assumed was the kid. "He probably didn't want to go anywhere too attention grabbing."

"Like Avengers Tower," Tony said through an exhale, rubbing a hand down his face. "So he goes to you. You know that if he wants my help, he'll have to come here eventually, right?"

"Are you?" Matt asked, having the decency to only sound mildly surprised. "Helping him, then?"

"I mean," Tony sighed, "I don't think I've got a choice. You're gonna be on my ass about it, so will Pepper when she finds out, 'cuz that woman knows everything, and plus it's Hydra."

"You want to help," Matt told him. "You don't do anything unless you want to."

"Because you know me so well," Tony said back, deadpan. "Just, drive the kid over tomorrow morning. We'll throw a welcome party."

"You better not," Matt warned him, sounding oddly protective. "And have you forgotten that I'm blind?"

Tony waved a hand dramatically, despite the fact that Matt couldn't see it. "Have your friend drive you, uh... Froggy? Or the hot blonde. I'm not picky."

"Froggy?" Matt repeated flatly. "Who the hell would go by that?"

"Like his real name's any better."

"Oh my god," Matt huffed. Tony grinned. "I'll ask Karen to drive us. And keep it on the down low, please? I don't wanna scare him."

"Yeah, sure," Tony relented. "Just, get him here by nine. I'm gonna go back to sleep."

"Thank you," Matt said. Tony didn't really know what to say to that, so he hung up. He stared at his phone for a moment, before putting it down on his nightstand. 

"FRIDAY, set a reminder for 8am, get ready for Matt and the kid."

"Right away, sir," FRIDAY responded. "Might I suggest going back to sleep? You will need to get up and explain this to the rest of the Avengers."

"Ugh, yeah," Tony grumbled, flopping back against his pillows with little excitement. "Sleep."

He closed his eyes, but sleep didn't come.

* * * * *

Matt had Karen pick up an outfit from the thrift store down the block for Peter to wear, which had been a task in itself because when asked what clothing size he was, Peter had confusedly responded with "Skinny?" So Matt had told Karen to just get something average sized, and Peter could deal with some over-sized clothes after being held captive by Hydra for who knows how long. 

It took some coaxing to get Peter to step out of the apartment while it was still light out, his clothes from the night before double wrapped in grocery bags and clutched tight to his chest, but they had Karen pull up right in front of the doors, and Matt held the car door open for Peter while he practically darted from the building to the car, frantically avoiding eye contact with everyone on the sidewalk, head ducked as far down as it could be. 

The ride there was tense, with Peter refusing to speak or even look at either of them. Matt could feel Karen sending him inquisitive glances through the rear-view mirror, which he pointedly ignored, and the radio was on some socialist talk show that was, by the sound of it, very close to flat out communism. Peter, despite his nerves, seemed content to listen to it, though. So nobody changed it. 

By the time Karen was pulling into the parking area allotted for Avengers Tower, Peter was more tense than he had been before. "It's gonna be fine, Peter," Matt assured him. "Tony's- you know, Iron Man- he's gonna come meet us down here. He already agreed to help you."

Matt could feel Karen staring at him, but he pretended he couldn't. He could hear Tony approaching- that stunted, mechanical whir he had to his heartbeat was distinct and recognizable. He also wasn't alone. Matt made to get out of the car, hearing Peter begin to do the same. "Karen, do you think- can you please wait in the car?" he asked.

Matt knew that Karen was getting fed up, had been fed up for a while, with all of his secrets and dodgy excuses and asking her to do strange things. "Matt-" she said, like she wanted to argue.

"Please," he said, urgent. "This is important." When Karen didn't answer, he tried again. "I swear, I wouldn't be asking this of you if it wasn't extremely important."

Karen sighed from her spot in the driver's seat. "I know," she said quietly. "That's what I'm worried about."

Matt didn't say anything back, just ducked out of the car and closed his door. Peter was already by his side, a mess of anxiety. Matt distantly hoped that the kid hadn't like, imprinted on him or something. 

"Mister lawyer," came a voice, Tony Stark finally emerging. There were two other heartbeats, one stronger than the others.

"Who's with you?" Matt asked.

"Black Widow on my right, Cap on my left," he said, and Matt was grateful for the extra bit of information. As callous as Tony may pretend to be, he was a very considerate person for the most part. "This the kid?"

Matt nodded. "Peter, yeah."

Peter's heart was beating very fast, so Matt tried resting a hand on his shoulder to comfort him. "Mr. Stark," Peter tried, his voice small, "I don't know how to tell you how grateful I am, that you said you'd help me-"

"Now hold on a minute," said another male voice, definitely Captain America. "As much as we are going to help you, this is going to be a bit of a two way street. You said you were Hydra-"

"No," Peter interrupted, his cold voice shocking Matt. "I wasn't Hydra. They- they made me, I wasn't-"

"Hey," Steve said, his voice suddenly much less authoritative and more soft, "that's not what I meant. I know you weren't doing it because you wanted to. Alright?" Peter must have nodded, because he continued a moment later. "We're gonna ask you about Hydra, and if you know anything, tell us. We're gonna monitor you pretty closely for a while, just as we get acquainted. It's not that we don't trust you, alright, just for security purposes. You all right with that?"

"Yeah," Peter agreed softly.

"Fury's gonna want a look at him too, probably," Black Widow put in.

"Not yet," Tony said. By the way Peter's heart picked up again, Matt guessed that Tony was looking the boy over. "So, kid, you ever lived in a fancy tower before?"

"No."

"Figures. Just don't pee on the furniture and you'll be fine."

"Tony," Matt warned.

"Sorry, sorry," Tony relented, a hint of amusement in his voice. "Nat, take the kid upstairs, will ya? I set him up in your guest room."

"Sure," Natasha said. "Here, Peter, I'll show you your room. Are you okay with that?"

"Yes," Peter said, and then he was moving. The way that Peter made no noise when he moved unnerved Matt, who relied on sound to locate people. But then, if Peter had been brought up by Hydra, it was probably something he'd been trained to do. 

Matt waited until Peter and Natasha were gone to speak again. "You chose your companions carefully," he observed, looking in Tony's direction.

"Me because I have experience with brainwashed Hydra soldiers, Nat because she was a child brought up in a dangerous environment," Steve concluded, like he was just now realizing it. Matt grinned, because Tony Stark was smart like that, in ways people couldn't think of themselves. 

"Yeah," Tony said, his voice losing it's lighthearted lilt. "So, I really don't wanna ask this, but how do we know that he's not still loyal to Hydra and this is all some huge ploy to take down the Avengers?"

"I can tell when people are lying," Matt said. "He wasn't."

"He could have also been trained to keep his heart steady," Tony argued. "This is a big risk I'm taking, Matt. I wanna make sure it's worth it."

"If he's still under their control, we can fix it," Steve assured his teammate. "Bucky got the help he needed in Wakanda. I'm sure they won't mind doing it a second time."

Tony was silent for a moment. "He reminds you of Bucky, doesn't he?"

Steve made a noise of agreement. "He looks so lost. I just... Bucky, he had the same look."

Tony sighed, clearing his throat. "Yeah. I know. Just, Everything about this kid screams 'Annie' to me, you know? Cute as a button. But..."

"But you don't trust him."

"Not as far as I can throw him."

Matt nodded. "I understand. But I think you could throw him pretty far. He's ridiculously light." Tony made to protest, but Matt interrupted. "And you already agreed to let him stay in your tower."

"Under close surveillance."

"I'm leaving," Matt rolled his eyes, and he heard Tony groan as he turned to walk back to the car. "Have fun with Annie."

Matt got only a few feet before he was stopped by none other than Steve Rogers. "Matt?" Steve called after him.

"Hm?" 

And, in a voice that could be described only as grateful, Steve said, "Thank you."


End file.
